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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

MST3K: Episode 108 - The Slime People

I'm trying to watch all of the Mystery Science Theater 3000. Why? Why not? Or, look here and here to find out why.

Episode 108: The Slime People

First aired: The Comedy Channel on 30 December 1989Availability: MST3KVideos.com

This is the first Season One episode I've covered that has never been made available commercially. While Episode 106 - The Crawling Hand isn't currently available, it was. This one isn't and never had been.

The copy I have, since it's not a DVD or iTunes, is from a VCR recording from 1991. The quality isn't great, but it's good. The sound has some issues, particularly at the start. The color has some issues, particularly the reds. If you decide you want to own a copy, be aware of that.

Though this episode originally aired on The Comedy Channel on December 30, 1989, the recording I have is from the Comedy Central rerun of the episode on June 21, 1991.

The Mads, askew

Again in this episode, the opening has Joel in is house robe, but the Bots are with him this time.

In the Invention Exchange, when we first see the Mad Scientists, they've gone back to the skewed camera angle they used in the KTMA season. They actually did the skewed camera in the previous episode (Episode 107 - Robot Monster), but I didn't make a note of that. This is the second consecutive to use the tilted camera angle on the Mads.

I don't recall the tilted camera being the norm for the episodes. I don't remember it, and noticed it in particular during the KTMA season. Of course, if it's done right, it achieves the effect without being noticed. But then, making it noticeable seems to be the way they'd want to do it.

Black & white scene from the previous episode

Black & white scene from this episode

They seem to have tinted the black & white short and movie with a slight blue or purple tint. At least they aren't screwing around with the color of the seats and silhouettes. The Shadowrama effect has gone from various shades of gray to various shades of green. Now, for this episode, the shadows are black and the movie is tinted.

Reality court

I found the 2nd host segment, where the Bots propose a show very similar to MST3K, to be particularly funny.

The reality court skit from the 1st segment was funny, too. I really enjoy when they take a segment and talk about the silly or impossible in a movie. Yes, there's the urge to say to Joel & the Bots, "It's just a show, you should really just relax." But I don't.

The movie itself was kinda weird. Maybe odd is a better term. The constant fog made it hard to see. Remember that John Carpenter movie, The Fog? This movie had more fog.

It almost made it Mystery Science Radio Presents. Oh, well, the riffs are all audio anyway, though they do often relate to action on the screen. And, this was still the case, though you often couldn't see anything during the outdoor scenes. Which explains why so many of the riffs during outdoor scenes where you couldn't see were about your not being able to see.

One riff that made me laugh out loud:

Servo: It is sort of hypnotic, isn't it?Crow: Hip? Not. Ick!

Another didn't happen. I heard the line in the movie, and they said nothing. Which either means they missed it, or they decided to let it go.

Cal Johnson: One minute there was just a fog, and the next it got thick, and hard.Professor Galbraith: Well did you touch it? Was it hot or cold or rough, smooth or what?

I had to rewind it to make sure I heard what I heard, then couldn't believe they let that line pass. Probably for the best, though.

I don't think I could sit and watch The Slime People by itself, if I tried. I won't try. But watching it with J&tB makes it's bearable. Almost.